


a light in the dark

by sophh



Series: 31 Days of Writing Challenge [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Huddling For Warmth, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Sharing a Bed, Sort Of, how many times will I use the word blanket in this fic, in which Dean has feelings for Luna, sharing a blanket
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:27:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27006559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophh/pseuds/sophh
Summary: Wormtail didn't bring enough blankets, so Dean and Luna are forced to share one. Dean doesn't mind, though.An AU in which no one escaped Malfoy Manor.
Relationships: Luna Lovegood/Dean Thomas
Series: 31 Days of Writing Challenge [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1945717
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8
Collections: 31 Days of Writing Challenge - Fall 2020





	a light in the dark

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 31 Days of Writing Challenge, October 13th: huddling for warmth. 
> 
> I originally wrote this thinking that Dean and Luna had been imprisoned at Malfoy Manor together. Surprise! Turns out they weren't. So now this is an AU where no one escaped. :p

To say that Dean felt cold was an understatement. His fingers and toes had long been numb, and his teeth wouldn't stop clacking together. The cellar in Malfoy Manor was dark and desolate, but it was the chill that bothered Dean the most. 

He looked over at the thin girl beside him. Luna's blonde hair, so often unkempt, was now positively scraggly. Weeks of malnutrition had made her already-pale skin even paler, and her wide grey eyes lacked their usual brightness. 

"Luna," he whispered. They rarely spoke above a whisper anymore, preferring to conserve their energy for other things. "It'll be nighttime soon." 

Luna drew her knees up to her chest and nodded. "Yes, I know." 

"Don't think Wormtail brought enough blankets tonight," he said, nodding at the pile of rough wool bedcovers that served as both mattress and blanket. "I counted as he pushed them in." 

The squirrely silver-handed Death Eater was forever bungling his tasks—he brought too much food one day and too little the next, for example, or he made the tea too hot or too cold. Dean only knew of the tea thing from the earsplitting shrieks that sometimes drifted down to the cellar, as it unfortunately wasn't a commodity offered to the prisoners. At least that might have helped ward off the chill. 

"That's alright," Luna said softly. "We can share one so that the others can have their own." 

Dean swallowed and tried to look nonchalant about that idea. If someone had told him a year ago that he would be sharing a blanket with Luna Lovegood, he would have thought that they were barmy. Now, the two had grown close, and Dean was rather fond of the unusual witch. He only hoped that there wouldn't be any awkwardness between them tomorrow. He supposed, knowing Luna, that there wouldn't be—not on her end, anyway. 

"Right," he said aloud, getting to his feet with some difficulty. Once he was fully straightened up, his skinny frame swayed slightly. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd had a proper meal, and between the food situation and his numb toes, he wasn't feeling particularly steady on his feet. Thankfully, the bedcovers were only a few steps away, lying in a crumpled heap where Wormtail had shoved them through the bars. 

Once Dean had retrieved two blankets, he deposited one in front of Ollivander before stumbling his way back to Luna, who smiled encouragingly at him. That curve of her lips gave him the strength that he needed to push through and collapse back at her side, where he watched as Harry collected two blankets for himself, Ron, and Hermione—it looked as though Ron and Hermione would be sharing one, too. The final blanket was claimed by Griphook. The goblin briefly met Dean's eye before trudging back to his own little corner. 

Luna moved to take the blanket from Dean, her fingers brushing against his as she did so. "You know, this would be such a beautiful color if the lighting in here wasn't so poor."

Dean stared down at the fabric to hide the blush that had begun to spread upon contact with her hand. It just looked like a dull shade of grey to him, but he wasn't surprised that Luna had managed to find some beauty in it. 

"Should we spread it out on the floor?" he asked. "I don't know if there'd be enough to cover us after we did that."

Luna tilted her head, considering. "Perhaps it would be best if we stayed propped up against the wall, then."

Dean nodded his agreement, feeling too exhausted to do much more than that. He took back the blanket and shook it out as best he could. He then settled it over the two of them, making sure that Luna got a little more than half. She needed it more than he did, he told himself, though he knew that there was more to it than that. 

"This is nice," Luna murmured, and Dean cracked a small smile at her words. 

"Yeah," he rasped. He felt slightly warmer already, though he couldn't be sure whether that was thanks to the woolen bedcover alone, or if Luna's body heat was partly responsible. Either way, she was right—it _was_ nice. 

The lights just outside the barred room went out a short while later, but Dean remained awake for some time, discomforted by both his upright position and Luna's proximity. Eventually, however, he was able to drift off into a dreamless sleep.

When he awoke the next morning, his arm was draped protectively over the blonde witch beside him. 


End file.
